SCREAMING BOOK OF HORROR - FINAL COVER and TOC

Hello folks, I'm happy to say that the MS for the SCREAMING BOOK OF HORROR has been handed in to Steve Upham of Screaming Dreams and now the countdown begins to the final product. I'm really excited about this book, this one has been an absolute pleasure to work on, I really do think I've got a spectacular anthology on my hands - not one duff story (well, maybe the one of mine that I sneaked in) and I cannot WAIT for you all to be able to read it.


 So, without further ado, here is the final running order of the stories.

Christenings Can Be Dangerous – John Llewellyn Probert
Larva – John Brunner
The Swarm – Alison Littlewood
Natural Selection – Robin Ince
One of the Family – Bernard Taylor
"Cut!" – Anna Taborska
The Christmas Toys – Paul Finch
The Quixote Candidate – Rhys Hughes
Helping Mummy – Kate Farrell
The City of Plenty – Alex Miles
The Iron Cross – Craig Herbertson
 Sometimes You Think You Are Alone – Alison Moore
Bird Doll – Claire Massey
What Shall We Do About Barker? – Reginald Oliver
Old Grudge Ender – David A. Riley
Jack and Jill – Steve Rasnic Tem
The Blackshore Dreamer – John Burke
Imagination – Christopher Fowler
Baby Trap – Janine Wood
The Tip Run – Johnny Mains
Dementia – Charlie Higson


 Now as you can see, there is an addition to the last TOC's and that is Charlie Higson, he of The Enemy, The Dead and The Fear books and you may also know him from The Fast Show. It's a real pleasure to have Charlie aboard with his short story 'Dementia' and trust me when I say it's a story that will stay in your mind and resonate with you for days afterwards.

 A big THANK YOU! to all of the authors who supplied stories, to the estates of John Brunner and John Burke for giving me permission to publish previously unseen works. A big thanks to those who work behind the scenes, people who, quite frankly, stop me from tipping over the edge into anthology induced insanity. And now, not a plea, but a small statement.

 I urge you to buy this book, support your small press. It's people like Steve Upham and the writers involved who make wonderful books like this happen. The production cost of a hardback book like this is quite high so it would be good to see Steve wipe his face, or even make a small return so it can go into the next book. This is how people in the small press survive. I am not making any money from this book, and am only asking for a nominal amount of books as payment - I've been working on this project for over a year, and have done so for free, because a: I'm doing this one for Steve because I'm really impressed with Screaming Dreams and the direction he's pushing his wee company in, and b: he has more money for authors. I don't even do this for kudos, glory or whatever.

 I only do this because I am 100% passionate about horror, the small press, author interaction and I try to get stories and put together books that will constantly raise the game for my personal vision of being the very best editor I can be, but also trying to raise the profile of the UK small press. Call that arrogant if you will, I call it fighting for a community I adore from the boots up.

 Here is the link to pre-order your copy of THE SCREAMING BOOK OF HORROR

 cheers, Johnny